Bleeding Out
by Jaclyn May
Summary: Owen looked down at the young woman who was unconscious, an oxygen mask over her mouth. He felt his heart drop as he stared at her face. Shock registered through his mind as he felt his body go numb. It's always the fear for a doctor that one day they'll recognise the person dying in front of them to be someone they love, and it's even worse when that fear becomes a reality.
**Bleeding Out**

 **Prologue**

 _'Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all.' ~ William Goldman_

The sun glinted off of the broken glass that had been sprayed across the ground. Three cars lay smashed together after one had run a red light, slamming into the side of one and causing the other to spin and flip onto its roof. One man had gone through the windshield of his car and was sprawled across the bonnet with glass protruding from his face, blood pooling over the bonnet of the car. Another man was trapped in the driver's seat, his three-year-old screaming in the back of the car. The final car had been flipped and contained a young red-headed woman who was stuck upside down, held in place by her seatbelt.

The people surrounding the crash-site had already emerged from their cars and were looking at the wreckage in shock. Some had begun to talk amongst their selves, hands pressed over their mouths, while others had pulled out their phones. It wasn't long until the crash-site had fallen into silence, smoke billowing from the wreckage. It seemed as if everyone was holding their breaths as they waited for the ambulances to arrive.

The sound of sirens broke through the long silence. The red and blue lights flashed brightly, cutting through the haze of smoke as she laid trapped upside down in her car. Blood had begun to pool in her mouth and every breath she took caused shooting pain through her body. Voices sounded around her as paramedics rushed towards her car. She couldn't move without pain and he vision had begun to blur. It wasn't long before her hearing faded and her vision turned black as she passed out.

~*0*~

Owen hung up the phone before turning around in search of the residents who would be helping him. They had three ambulances coming in due to the car accident, and they would need more than himself, Meredith and Cristina. The two of them moved over to him and he ordered them to wait in the bay, while proceeding to page both Callie and Teddy. He knew there would no doubt be a multitude of broken bones and there was always a need for a cardio surgeon when it came to severe car accidents.

"Morning." Owen greeted Meredith and Cristina as he walked out to the ambulance bay. They had received the call about a three car pile up not long ago, and all three were bouncing on their heels, ready to tackle whatever trauma came their way.

"Hi." Cristina greeted him, having been in deep conversation with Meredith. "What've we got incoming?"

"Three ambulances with an ETA of two minutes. There was a three car pile up. Dr. Altman and Torres are on their way down." Owen explained to the two women. He had been hoping for a quiet day, but that was rare when it came to trauma these days. Well, at least that's what it felt like.

It wasn't long before Teddy, Callie and a few others joined the three as the paramedics pulled up, swinging the back doors open and jumping out. It was then that the three doctors jumped into the chaos, quickly followed by others who had been asked to meet them in the bay. Meredith, Cristina and Owen all branched off, moving to an ambulance each. Owen stood ready as one of the paramedics, Damian he remembered the young English mans name to be, as he pulled the patient from the back.

"Young female in her early thirties. She was unconscious on arrival. She has a laceration to the left side of her forehead…" Damian's voice seemed to fade out as Owen looked down at the young woman who was unconscious, an oxygen mask over her mouth. He felt his heart drop as he stared at her face.

"Dr. Hunt?" Callie shook his arm, bringing him back to reality. "Are you alright? We need to move quickly."

"I… I can't. Take her in and assess her." Owen stuttered out as he stepped back, running a hand through his hair.

Callie looked over her friend's face for a moment before nodding, following Damian into the hospital as he wheeled the young woman in. As soon as they entered one of the trauma rooms she began assessing the damage. Not a moment later Jackson and April had joined her as they worked to keep their patient alive and stable.

~*0*~

Cristina glanced over at Owen as she saw him step back from the young woman. Alex had already moved to stand beside her as she stood over the young male patient in front of her. She waved Alex off, telling him to take care of the patient as she watched Owen and Callie speak for a moment. She could tell something was terribly wrong from just looking at her partner and she couldn't help the concern that flooded through her.

She moved over to him as he sat outside, his head rested in his hands. His whole body had gone numb. He couldn't think clearly as the commotion settled around him. He raised his head from his hands, looking at them as they shook. He had seen many people he knew involved in trauma before, and had never reacted like this. He couldn't explain to himself why he had frozen like that.

"Owen?" Cristina's voice cut through his voice as she sat down beside him. She took one of his hands in her own, her eyes filling with concern as she looked at him. "What was that?"

"I just froze. I couldn't think." He told her before getting to his feet. "I need to get in there and help."

"You're in no state to be helping anyone." She reasoned with him, getting to her feet, blocking the way back into the hospital. "Tell me what happened. Why did you freeze up like that?"

"The young woman…" Owen sighed heavily. It had been fifteen years since he had last seen her, but he was sure it was her. "That was my younger sister. Lauren. I saw her and I just froze. I haven't seen her in years and now she's in a trauma room half dead."

Cristina was a little taken aback at Owen's words. She had heard him mention a sister before, but hadn't heard anything other than that. "Which is why you need to go to the on-call room and get yourself together before you can help anyone."

"There are other people in there that we have a duty of care towards." He shrugged off her sympathy, stepping around her and heading back into the hospital.

She grabbed his arm as he walked away. She didn't want to let this go. He wasn't in the right state of mind to be treating any injuries while he was distracted. "Owen, what you need is to go and wait in the on-call room. I will talk to Torres and see how she is."

"Cristina…" He trailed off, shaking his head.

"No arguments. You're in no shape to be working right now. Go get changed and I will get you when we know something. Now go." She ordered, watching as he headed towards the waiting room, raking his hands through his hair as he sat down heavily. She had the feeling that it was going to be a long day.

 **A/N Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :) I'm hoping to take this somewhere fun and interesting but I'm testing the waters for a response ATM. Please drop a review and tell me what you did and didn't like!**

 **xx JM**


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